Activists: Economy ministry shelves Bratislava pipeline debate

The Economy Ministry has again shelved the planned debate involving an oil pipeline connection between Bratislava and the Austrian refinery Schwechat (ÖMV) after several previous delays, now claiming that it doesn’t have enough relevant documents and other necessary information, Miroslav Dragun from the civic association 'No to Pipeline' said at a press conference on December 4. The Economy Ministry has said that the debate will take place one year later, as it needs to prepare all the necessary documents.

The Economy Ministry has again shelved the planned debate involving an oil pipeline connection between Bratislava and the Austrian refinery Schwechat (ÖMV) after several previous delays, now claiming that it doesn’t have enough relevant documents and other necessary information, Miroslav Dragun from the civic association 'No to Pipeline' said at a press conference on December 4. The Economy Ministry has said that the debate will take place one year later, as it needs to prepare all the necessary documents.

“We were very surprised. The ministry once stated that it has documents, at some other time it doesn’t have... all the while it has been [dealing] with the project at least since 2010,” said Dragun, as quoted by the TASR newswire. He added that the state-run oil transport and storage company Transpetrol and the Economy Ministry made a public screening of a film about the project at the Ekotopfilm festival.

“They claimed [in the film] that they’d be able to persuade local councillors and mayors [of Bratislava boroughs] that the routing is safe, and civic activists are only scaremongering,” said Dragun, adding that the ministry has obviously become scared of a real debate.

The Bratislava city council in June rejected routing the pipeline through the city’s most populous borough of Petržalka.

(Source: TASR)Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reportsThe Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.

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